Thursday, September 18, 2008

Homemade Tortilla Shells

I have been making my own homemade tortilla shells for well over a year now. We prefer them hands down to any store bought shell out there. They are soft and flexible. The flavor is delicious, and best of all these don't upset my stomach as some of the commercial shells have been know to do.

4 cups flour-usually it is 3 cups AP flour and one cup of wheat (hard or soft is fine in this recipe)

1 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup vegetable shortening

1 1/4 cups water (usually cold or cool)

Assemble your ingredients.

Add flour, salt and baking powder together in a bowl.

Whisk that up.

Add 1/2 cup shortening.

I mix it in with my fingers until I have little pea sized balls of shortening.

Add water and mix until a dough ball forms. Lay that out on a floured surface. Knead a few times and let rest 10 minutes.

Divide dough into 12 pieces.

Roll pieces into balls.

Lightly flour your work surface. I use a wood board. Flatten your ball into a disk. Flip the disk over, so that both sides are floured.

I use a tapered rolling pin with the sloped ends and no handles. It is easier for me to work the dough with one of these. I roll and turn the disk. If it sticks to the rolling pin I flip it to the other side.

Finally, into the ungreased 10 inch cast iron skillet the shell goes. I cook it on one side until it bubbles up some and is slightly browned.

Then I flip it to the other side. You can see the brown spots on this shell. This is what I strive for. If I don't focus, they get a little more done than I may like.

As each one finishes, I put them on a plate that is covered with a kitchen towel. This keeps them plenty warm.

Oh Jennie, I had to comment...I just rolled out over 50 tortillas last night then looked at your blog this morning to find...tortillas!! Ahhhhh! I'll be dreaming of tortillas tonight :) They are SO worth the work though, aren't they? My kids won't even eat the store bought kind anymore.

Hello Jennie, I have enjoyed reading your blog and recipes etc. I too am a mother of 4 children living in Tasmania Australia. We are also interested in living a self sufficient lifestyle.Just wondering what AP flour and wheat flour is?? Is that what we call Self raising and Plain flours?Many Thanks.

To my new friend from Australia,Thank you so much for stopping by and commenting. AP flour is just all-purpose flour. It is not self-rising as there is no leavening or salt added to the flour. It is the equivalent of your plain flour. Wheat flour is ground from the wheat berries with none of the germ or bran removed. I grind my own. From a quick study I just did I think you might call this wholemeal flour. I hope this helps some. Thanks again for coming by and stop in again.Jennie

Thanks for posting this recipe, I am a missionary in Mindanao Philippines, and it is extremely difficult to find tortilla's here. I will be making these today and keeping them in my freezer when i need them.

About Me

For nearly 18 years I have been David's wife. Together with our four children we make our home on a one acre plot of land in Western New York State. I will share with you as often as the Lord allows the fruit of my hands which may be gardening, baking, sewing, cross stitching, knitting, canning or some new endeavor. If you stop by and read, please leave your comments. They are very much appreciated. May you be blessed.